Wisconsin Right Now

Wisconsin voters approved a state constitution change requiring someone to be a citizen to vote in elections. The ballot measure had 75% approval with more than 95% of the statewide voted tallied. Currently, the Wisconsin constitution states that "Every United States citizen age 18 or older who is a resident of an election district" is a qualified voter; the ballot proposal would replace the phrase “every United States citizen” with “only a United States citizen.” The ballot measure comes as leaders across the state called for a process for the state to check its voter rolls for noncitizens and remove them, ensuring election integrity in the state. Currently, election commissions cannot check their rolls with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to ensure an estimated 90,000 individuals who are currently legally in the state, who can get a drivers license, do not register to vote. Several voting groups across the state spoke out against the ballot measure, ...

  Most registered voters, 59%, support a federal ban on transgender procedures such as puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgeries for minors, a new national  poll found. The strongest support for a federal ban came from registered Republicans (82%), while the lowest amount of support for it came from registered Democrats (36%). Independents polled offered majority support for a ban, with 56% in favor. The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights between Oct.2-4 and surveyed 2,560 registered voters. The margin of error for the aggregate sample was ±2.1%. According to the poll, although both sexes favored a federal ban on transgender procedures for minors, men were more likely to favor it, with 63% in favor compared to 56% for women. Among the ethnicities polled, “others” favored a ban the most at 63% compared to 61% for Whites. Of Black registered voters polled, 46% favored a ban, while 32% were opposed and 22% were not s...

American voters are one month out from election day, and some new developments threaten to upset the close race. According to Real Clear Politics’ polling average, the two candidates are nearly tied in several key swing states. Former President Donald Trump leads in Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina while Vice President Kamala Harris leads in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, though the leads in all six of those states are less than 2 points, within the margin of error in most polls. They are tied in Pennsylvania, according to RCP. However, the conflict in the Middle East and the ongoing negotiations over port closures on the East and Gulf coasts have the potential to be a crippling October surprise for Harris. As vice president, Harris has tried to walk a fine line of taking credit for the economic recovery under Biden and other accomplishments while attempting to skirt responsibility for the border crisis, 40-year-high inflation and other problems during that same term. ...

Voters across Wisconsin said yes to a lot of things on their ballots Tuesday. Both of the state’s proposed constitutional amendments to keep outside money out of election operations passed, and a quarter-billion-dollar tax increase for Milwaukee Public Schools also likely gained approval. The first amendment, which bans so-called “Zuckerbucks,” passed with about 54% of the vote. The second question, which bans outside election workers from working in Wisconsin, passed with about 58% of the vote. Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay, said Wisconsin voters made it clear that they want to keep out-of-state billionaires out of their elections. “Whether there is actual election tampering or not, an impression of an injustice is as detrimental to society as an actual injustice. People need policies and procedures that instill confidence in the vote result, even if they don’t like the result. These amendments help create that confidence,” Wimberger said in a statement. The amendments ...

Voters trust former President Donald Trump more than President Joe Biden on the economy, immigration, national security, foreign affairs and crime. Biden, however, is more trusted on health care, climate change, education, and abortion. Those findings come from The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll , conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights. The poll of 2,605 voters includes 1,035 Republicans, 1,074 Democrats, and 496 true Independents, and is among the most comprehensive in the country. On the economy/jobs, a majority of voters say Trump would do a better job than Biden, 54% to 37%. Voters also say Trump would outperform Biden, 53% to 36%, on immigration; 51% to 39% on national security; 50% to 38% on crime/violence; and 48% to 41% on foreign affairs. Voters think Biden is better than Trump on education, 45% to 42; health care, 46% to 42%; abortion, 46% to 38%; race relations, 46% to 38%; and climate change, 48% to 36%. Illustration by Kate Guenth...

Wisconsin voters will get two questions about election integrity next fall. The State Senate approved proposed constitutional amendments that would clarify that only U.S. citizens 18 years old and older can vote in the state, and would ban the use of so-called outside private money in Wisconsin elections. Senators also approved a third question as well that would enshrine voter ID into the state constitution, but that has to be voted on again next year before it can go to voters. “These amendments are common sense solutions that help to strengthen the integrity of our elections,” Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Cedarburg, said. SJR 71 will ensure only U.S. citizens who are 18 or older and eligible to vote can vote in Wisconsin’s elections. It also prohibits state and local governments from accepting private grants, like those that came from Mark Zuckerberg in 2020, for the public administration of elections. “Wisconsin received over $10 million in unaccountable grants from a group fu...

  The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll, conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights, found that 88% of voters, including 76% of Trump-first voters, support some form of legal abortion. Included in this 88% are those 37% who believe it should be legal in all circumstances and 51% who believe it should only be legal under certain circumstances. "You would assume that the pro-lifers are more hardened in their support, but Republicans are actually more open-minded on this issue than their counterparts across the aisle," said Mike Noble, founder and CEO of Noble Predictive Insights, which conducted the poll. An especially salient issue since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, abortion has been on the ballot in seven states in the intervening year, with anti-abortion measures failing on each occasion. Earlier this month, an Ohio ballot measure to make it harder to add items such as abortion rights to the state constitution failed, earning only 43...

The newly passed SAFE-T Act in Illinois all but abolishes cash bail. Critics say this means that some charged with serious crimes like second-degree murder or kidnapping will be freed without a hearing. Voters largely support policies allowing police to detain suspects charged with violent crimes, a new poll shows. That's in contrast to recent policies being enacted in Illinois. Convention of States Action, along with Trafalgar Group, released the poll , which found that the vast majority of surveyed Americans do not support policies that keep law enforcement from detaining those accused of violent crimes. The poll found that 95.6% of those surveyed “say they are less likely to vote for a candidate who supports policies which prevent police from detaining criminals charged with violent crimes, such as kidnapping and armed robbery.” “Crime is the beneath-the-iceberg issue for voters in 2022, it’s absolutely clear in these numbers,” said Mark Meckler, president of the Conven...

Most voters in Wisconsin don’t know most of the candidates running for governor or U.S. Senator this fall. And just over half of voters in the state think Wisconsin is on “the wrong track.” The latest Marquette Law School Poll shows the candidates running in this August’s primary have a lot of work to do connecting with the voters. “The poll finds 51% of registered voters saying they don’t know whom they will support in the Republican primary for governor or the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate,” pollsters said on Wednesday. “Forty-six percent say they support one of the current candidates.” Among the Republicans running for governor, former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch has the most name recognition at 50%. Eighty percent of Republican voters say they don’t know who Kevin Nicholson is, and 86% don’t know anything about Tim Ramthun. In the Democratic race for U.S. Senate, the poll says 62% of voters haven’t heard of current Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. Pollsters say 73% of voters ...

Gableman is scheduled to testify in front of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Wisconsin voters will finally see what months of investigation into the 2020 presidential election have uncovered. Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman is expected to unveil his report into the 2020 vote at a statehouse hearing this morning. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel originally reported that Gableman would deliver the report to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Monday. Gableman's election investigation report would then be released to the public. The paper later said the report will not be made public until Tuesday. Gableman's Election Investigation Gableman has worked since September of last year to get a sense of just what happened at the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and in a handful of cities leading up to the vote in November of 2020. Gableman has repeatedly said he is not looking to overturn the election, rather he simply ...